DNM Long-Form
Finding A Way Forward
So, for lack of a path forward from their various hilltop fiefdoms, the major players in the building industry wait for change from cross-pollination: radical, game changing ideas with game changing acronyms like BIM, IFC, IPD, LEAN, TQM, and others, that will propel their own company to new levels, and pull the rest of the industry along in their wake.
Holding Space: Fences & Obelisks
The strategy for defining a space depends on its purpose. An enclosure is appropriate when the space’s purpose is to keep people in (or out) and when no common belief system binds them to the space. It can be very expensive to construct an enclosure, however, and it limits future growth, as many walled cities have learned.
Building Is A War Against Inertia
Building is an act of war against inertia. Any change, physical, spiritual, or otherwise, requires effort, and effort is another way of expressing energy. Building anything requires a great deal of effort and energy to alter the physical, financial, political, and even cultural status quo. Building is not just the act of making something; it is also the act of giving up what might have been.
DNM Architecture Collaborates with Nonfiction to Bring Clean Energy to West Africa
Sausalito-based DNM Architecture is collaborating with with fellow Bay Area creative firm Nonfiction to design and produce Jaza Solar Hubs – field assembled power centers designed to bring clean, renewable energy to Nigeria localities – while empowering local women to run 100% of operations.
Japan: Connecting Old and New
On a recent trip to Japan, where everything I saw was new to me, I was struck by the way old and new forms are used to express similar ideas in very different ways.
Geometry & Generalist
unlike specialized professionals such as structural engineers, mechanical engineers, or geotechnical engineers, an architect is specifically trained to be a generalist, to see both the big picture and oversee the details. There is a saying that an architect knows a little bit about everything, but not much of anything! No other professional on the building project team can talk with about space, light, building codes, history and the strength of concrete with equal ease (and sometimes in the same sentence!).
Tree, Water, Earth and Sky
When starting a new project, facing a blank canvas or a blank computer screen is daunting. Even after analyzing all of the project constraints, where is the starting point to synthesize the information and for create something from nothing? This is where literary devices, such as personification, analogy and metaphor, are useful tools to think about architectural design in the context of another medium such as literature, sculpture or, quite often, music…
Navigating Technological Change in Architectural Practice
Starting somewhere in the 1980’s with 2D CADD software on mini and microcomputers, through the internet, worldwide web, 3D modeling and simulation, BIM, and, more recently, artificial intelligence, fast changing technology has often disoriented architectural practice and potentially threatened it both economically, but even existentially.
Power of Ten Design
Architectural design can be thought in terms of multiple levels or “altitudes.” Up close is the building itself, its walls, roof, doors. Further back is the building’s physical context, and further back still – with the building now out of direct site – might be its symbolic context or the role it plays in the larger society. All of these views are interdependent.
Palm Springs
What is the allure of a 110 degree suburbia? Is it post war exuberance? An act of defiance against climate and logic? Is it a statement of democracy and free will? Sunstroke? Isn’t it a little bit weird?
A Well Made Collaboration
DNM Architecture is proud to announce its collaboration with San Leandro, CA based WellMade Design Build to bring compact, modern and affordable ADUs to CA.. Our new partnership will help WellMade streamline the process of adding an ADU to any property, making on-demand housing solutions even easier for homeowners to implement.
A Humanist Architect
I am an architect, and I think of myself as a humanist. There are many definitions of humanist (it makes sense that there would be), but among the shortest I have found is “an approach to life based on reason and our common humanity, recognizing that moral values are properly founded on human nature and experience alone.” As a self-defined humanist, I tend to accept people as they see themselves, assume they know more or less what is best for them, and do what little I can to help them along their way.
Architectural Quotes
Architecture is frozen music. Frederic von Schelling: Philosophie der Kunst This is part of a personal collection of what others have said about architecture. Profound,
Clients & Customers
I feel my clients hire me to look after their building project in the same way that a patient hires a doctor to care for their health…
Joining the AI…ehhhh
Image: Vintage Drafting tools, copyright Adobe Stock/Grigory I am a loyal, frustrated, enthusiastic, passive member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). I watch it
Petaluma Pastoral
Our Petaluma Pastoral project by is an ongoing multi-phased endeavor for a happy client. Set on 4.5 acres of picturesque rolling farmland, two buildings have
The Building Is Alive!
Mark Twain said of his Connecticut home: “To us, our house was not insentient matter — it had a heart, and a soul, and eyes
pEUI – A New Measure of Efficiency
In coming weeks, DNM Architecture will publish the net Predicted Energy Use Intensity (net pEUI) for all of its featured designs as we work to move our industry
What is Architecture? A Collection of Quotations, Part I
From time to time, I add to a personal collection of what others have said about architecture. Profound, cynical or silly, it is relevant to
The DNM Video Blog
Welcome to the first DNM Architecture video blog! Moving forward, we hope you enjoy this additional way of examining our projects, including commentary directly from
New Rules Mean Adding an ADU to Your California Home is Easier Than Ever
Accessory Dwelling Units or ADUs may seem like a very new and different type of housing, but the term ADU actually refers only to the
Architect Lexicon: Inform
Like all professions, architects share a jargon that can be confusing to clients and other mortals. Many words are useful and inevitable shorthand that improve
Formed by the Land
Just north of San Francisco, a long-vacant lot was defined by a V-shaped, natural drainage swale through its center, effectively dividing the land in half.
Architect Lexicon: Challenge
CHALLENGE. OPPORTUNITY. OBSTACLE. We often say that we don’t like problems, but, in fact, we can’t live without them. More precisely, we can’t make a
DNM Architecture is Part of the 2030 AIA Commitment.
Becoming a 2030 signatory is a commitment to addressing one of the biggest challenges of the 21st century and becoming a leader in fighting climate
Views From A Sonoma Hillside
David was a dream to work with. He really listened to our descriptions of what we wanted including a modern aesthetic. We went through multiple
Portfolio, Perspective, and Process
I attended a lunchtime seminar about firm marketing sponsored by the AIA a couple of months ago and learned something! But, that’s not the only
What Is Architecture?
Profound, cynical or silly, it is relevant to me; perhaps it will be for you as well. It is in no particular order and I
Potential in Palm Springs
This gorgeous, albeit currently unbuilt, DNM Architecture-designed home recalls the beauty of 1950’s Desert Modern style and brings it to the 21st century with better
The Value of an Architect
Through education, training and experience, an architect is the one professional person who is equipped to guide you through the design, permitting and construction of